Rep. Sean Roberts
House Media Division
Legislation that would make all rules subject to approval by the Oklahoma Legislature was approved 8-2 today by a House committee.
House Bill 2018, by Rep. Sean Roberts was approved by the House Admin Rules, Government Oversight and Repealer Committee.
Currently, only rules in Title 59 are subject to legislative approval. HB 2018 would extend this to include Title 63, which includes the Department of Health, Department of Human Services, Oklahoma Healthcare Authority, Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, and the State Department of Rehabilitation Services. This measure would prevent these agencies from creating and implementing rules, such as fees and rules tied to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
“Lawmakers have been working in this direction. We had made certain rules subject to legislative approval because we had found that agencies were using fees to address budget cuts rather than cutting spending as was the intent of their reduced appropriations,” said Roberts, R-Hominy. “I don’t think though that rules should be passed without legislative approval. We are ultimately responsible for oversight of Oklahoma state agencies.”
The bill now advances to the House Calendar Committee, which will schedule it for a hearing on the House floor.
